What is mechanically separated meat made of? Is it good for you, or is it maybe better to avoid it completely, if not necessary to survive. Meat or pink mash?
Although it is often present in tortellini fillings, chicken ready meals, lasagna and burgers served in fast food outlets in some countries, most consumers still do not know what exactly mechanically separated meat is.
It is a post-slaughter product, obtained by squeezing the carcasses of slaughtered animals to which the precious parts have already been removed: after several washings with ammonia to eliminate any flavor (then improved by artificial flavors), the result is a homogeneous pink paste with cartilage and small bones reduced to powder mixed with water and flavorings.
Often representing a basic ingredient of certain ready meals, it must be mentioned on the labels, but companies often try to do so in an unclear way: through microscopic typographical characters, or by using asterisks alongside the writing chicken meat.
Check for yourself how much real meat there is in your breaded cutlets: just read the label, as always! And if that’s not enough, the visual and sensory analysis will not betray you: compare a chicken breast purchased by the farmer, with those for sale at the supermarket fridge counter. poi
Meat or pink mash? poi
The difference is glaring. poi
